Crossroads: War of The Dimensions
by SonicVelocity
Summary: After being sucked into a portal and landing in Konoha, Ichigo learns of Rukia's capture, and with the help some unlikely allies such as Naruto, Link, Mario and many more, he must travel to different worlds to stop an evil alliance and rescue Rukia!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1 **

As Ichigo got up he tried to recall the dream he just had. He remembered fighting a hollow when suddenly some sort of hole of hole opened up in the air. Like some sort of black hole, the hollow was sucked into the hole before Ichigo could finish it off. What happened to the black hold next, he didn't know because the moment the hollow was completely absorbed into the abyss of the hole Ichigo ran. He could feel the air rushing past as the hole sucked it in like it did to the hollow, he could see as rocks, grass, and the thrash that was on the ground flew past with the wind as it was sucked into the hole.

Ichigo grabbed onto the first tree he could find and held onto as long as he could. Just when the tree was about to give way, the force that was pulling everything into the abyss stopped. Ichigo let go of the tree and turned to the face the black hole. It was gone.

_What was that about?_ thought Ichigo. As he surveyed the damage that was done by the black hole, he noticed his sword was stuck in a nearby tree. He went over to retrieve it and the moment he successfully pulled the sword out of the tree, the black hole appeared again, this time directly behind him. Instantly, his sword was pulled out of his hand and sucked in the black hole.

"No!" yelled Ichigo, but before he could say anything else, he felt himself being pulled in, and then...everything went black.

After recalling what happened, he was suddenly wide awake. He first reached for his sword, but it wasn't there. _Dam, so that wasn't just a dream_ he thought. He looked around him, and saw that he was some forest. He first thought it was the rain forest because the canopy was so dense that very little sunlight reached the ground. He decided that it couldn't be, he had been to the rain forest and the trees were much higher than this. As he looked for his sword, he also took note of his surroundings. The forest was extremely dense and was filled animals and insects that were abnormally big.

Suddenly, something flew past him, cutting his face, and landing in the ground in front of him. Instantly he was on guard, looking around him for movement. When nothing happened after about 30 seconds, he inspected what had cut him.

"What the-a shuriken?" Ichigo said to himself. As he bent down to pick up the weapon that had cut him, a shadow appeared above his, growing fast as whatever it was got closer. Ichigo dived out of way, just in time to avoid the sword of his attacker.

"Hey, pal! What's the big idea?" yelled Ichigo. The man he was facing was wearing what looked like a uniform, blue pants, blue shirt, and a what appeared to be a green vest covered in pouches that contain who-knows-what. _Is he a solider?_ Ichigo thought, but his thoughts were interrupted by the shouting of the man.

"So, it you who was responsible for the attack earlier!" said the man, pointing an accusing finger at Ichigo.

"Wait, what? What are you talking about? What attack?" said Ichigo, seriously confused.

"Don't play dumb with me! I can see right through your deception! Kiling innocent people, you monster!" said the man, his voice growing with passion as he continued to speak. "I will show you that we, of the Hidden Leaf, will never lose to the likes of people like you!"

"Wait, hold on! I don't know-" but Ichigo stopped. Out of the corner of his eye he saw it. His sword! But the other man, following the direction of his eyes, saw it too and grinned.

"Not on your life!" he said and before Ichigo could do anything the man ran to get to the sword first. Thinking fast, Ichigo ran after him, picking up the shuriken as he went. Ichigo taking aim, throw the shuriken, aiming for the back of the man's head. The man saw it and jumped to avoid it, thereby allowing Ichigo to reach the sword first. He grabbed it and instantly took his fighting stance.

"Ok, listen to me! I don't know what you're talking about. I don't know anything about any attack, or whatever it was that happened." Said Ichigo, hoping to calm the man.

"Lies! Now I will show you why we call this the Forest of Death!" said the man and he rushed at Ichigo with his sword. They fought, sword-to-sword for what seemed like forever. They parried and slashed, but they were evenly matched. Eventually, the man slipped up, giving Ichigo the upper-hand, but before Ichigo could take advantage of the situation, the man jumped up into the air and starting moving his hands, making odd signs.

_What is he doing?_ thought Ichigo, but he soon found out when the man suddenly stopped the hand signs and shouted "Firestyle: Fireball Jutsu!" Suddenly, a huge ball of fire erupted from the man's mouth, coming straight towards Ichigo. Ichigo dodged it, but barely, scorching most of his clothes in the process.

"What the fu-" Ichigo started to say, but was stopped by a blow to the back of his head.

"As much as I'd like to kill you right now, I must take you back to the village for interrogation" was the last thing Ichigo heard, before passing out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

Ichigo's mind still wasn't completely cleared from the interrogation he had just endured. He was trying to get it out of his mind, but he couldn't forget what he had heard. At some point during the interrogation there was a pause between tortures and he was given a time to rest, but only so that he would not die before the information they suspected was revealed. During this time, an alarm had been risen. Soldiers, or "ninja" as they were calling themselves, were running around frantically. From what he could hear, there was some sort of attack going on.

Suddenly, the man who had been leading his interrogation walked briskly into the room.

"I'm no longer sure what to think about you." the man said, stopping right in front of Ichigo.

"Wh-what are you talking about?" asked Ichigo weakly, still in pain.

"Don't play dumb, not again! On the mountains to the east, there's a battle going on," started the man. "Between a man and a woman, both using swords. At first we thought they both were enemies, but during the battle, the girl protected and saved civilians and even some of our ninja. She called herself Rukia and-"

"Rukia!" exclaimed Ichigo. _How did she get here?_ he thought.

"Ah, so you know this Rukia? Well then, that shall make the rest of this interrogation very interesting."

The guy attempted to make a move towards Ichigo, but before he could, Ichigo summoned his strength and broke free of the bonds holding him. Quickly getting over his shock, the man started a succession of hand signs, similar to what the man who had captured him had done. Ichigo, ran for his Zanpakutō, which in a corner of the room, and held it in front of him just as a blast air hit him. The sword cut through it, to the man's surprise and before he could try attack, Ichigo broke his way out of the room.

Using the pandemonium that was going on through the building, Ichigo managed to find the exit, with little trouble. After disposing of some ninja who were acting as guards at the exit, Ichigo took a moment to catch his breath before heading east to the mountains.


	3. Chapter 3

As Ichigo made his way to the mountains, something out of corner of his eye grabbed his attention. He slowed down just enough for to focus on what it was that he saw. He looked in astonishment at what seemed to be faces carved into the face of the mountain overlooking the village. 

_Reminds me of Mt. Rushmore,_ thought Ichigo. _This is exactly why rip-offs are frowned upon._ Before he could further criticize the quality of the sculpture a loud scream pierced his thoughts.

"Dam! I almost forgot. Rukia, hold on I'm on my way!" said Ichigo and rushed to the top of the mountain where he could see smoke rising.

When he got there he saw the destruction that the hollow had caused. Most of the buildings were completely destroyed, the rest looked like they were about collapse. Ichigo made his way through the rumble, calling out Rukia's name. Eventually, he came across a crowd of people, standing in a circle. He pushed his way past them, making his way to the front. When he got there he saw her. He had expected to see her, most likely having already defeated the hollow or in combat with it, but what he did see was not what he had expected. Rukia was on her knees, bloodied, with no sword in her hand. In front of her was the hollow that he had fought earlier, but what was surprised him was what was on top of it. A man, wearing a dark gray tunic, and what appeared to be black tight and an elf hat stood on top of the hollow. His skin was also a dark gray, but eyes…his eyes were a bright red! Ichigo looked around and saw others wearing similar uniforms to what the guy who attacked him the forest wore, within the crowd.

_Why are they just standing there,_ wondered Ichigo. _If they care so much about their village, why aren't they doing anything?_ Ichigo soon found out the answer to his question when he tried make his way to Rukia. He was blocked by an invisible wall.

"Rukia!" he shouted to no avail. She didn't hear him, but the man on top of the hollow did. When he looked into Ichigo's eyes, a feeling of dread shot through his body. At this point it was completely silent as Ichigo and the man stared into each other's eyes.

"Who-who are you?" Ichigo manage to say, almost choking on his words. "Are you Death?" Ichigo didn't know why he said that, especially considering he was a soul reaper which would technically make him death, but the words were already spoken.

"No, I am not. But I could introduce you to him if you'd like," said the man, with a wide grin spreading across his face. As he said that he began to draw his sword that was strapped across his back. As he drew his sword…

"RASENGAN!" someone yelled and suddenly a ball of blue light hit the top of the invisible wall. Holding the ball was the blond hair kid Ichigo saw earlier. Starting from the point the attack made impact with the wall and spreading outward, cracks began to show in the air. In no time at all the whole wall shattered allowing Ichigo, the blond-haired kid and the other uniformed men to surrounded Rukia and the man.

"I'm Naruto-"

"Uzumaki," interrupted the man. "Yes, I know who you are, and you are Ichigo Kurosaki I presume?" said the man looking at Ichigo. Suddenly Rukia disappeared.

"What the-?" said Ichigo, alarmed.

"Hahaha, you see she was only an illusion to bring you both here so I could see what all the fuss was about," said Dark Link. "The real Rukia escaped through the portal long before you got here. She put up one hell of a fight too! I would've gone after her, but when I sensed you coming I just had too wait."

"How do you know who we are?" shouted Ichigo at the man. The man simply laughed and waved Ichigo off.

"I've been told about both of you. Allow me to introduce myself, I am Dark Link, as in the dark link to this war!" said Dark Link and he laughed.

"What war? What are you talking about?" said Naruto, who was confused by all of what was happening.

"All in due time little ninja," said Dark Link and suddenly the black hole that had brought Ichigo here opened up behind Dark Link, but instead of sucking them in, they simply walked into it and disappeared as it closed behind them...


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

After Dark Link left, Ichigo used his bankai to reopen the portal and ran to it, After t Ichigo and Naruto went through the dark hole, they landed in a field. The field was filled with trees and flowers and there was a small stream running through it.

_Where am I?_ Thought Ichigo

"Where are we?" Naruto asked with a confused look.

"I don't know Naruto". Ichigo said "I think Rukia is here somewhere" He said.

Naruto felt a breeze on his cheek "Ah that feels nice. Can you feel that breeze Ichi-"

"Naruto stop talking, I hear music..." interrupted Ichigo. "Do you hear it Naruto?"

Naruto looked at Ichigo with a big grin. "Yes I do, it sounds very pretty."

"Wait, we should follow the notes to see who is playing that instrument, maybe they might know where we are," Ichigo said.

Naruto followed Ichigo into a forest surrounding the field. At the start of the forest,they find a boy playing a instrument they didn't recognize and a horse sleeping next to him. The boy had a green tunic,white pants,brown boots and a big blue sword and a metal shield on his back.

"Uh excuse me, Im sorry for interrupting your song, but have you seen a girl around here?" Ighigo asked the boy.

The boy shook his head "Sorry, I've been here all day and haven't seen anyoen come by.." The boy was about to go back to playing his instrument but then suddenly looked back at them with a bemused expression.

"I've been to many places, but I've never seen anyone such clothing. Who are you two?" asked the boy.

"I'm Naruto Uzumaki! Future Hogake WOO HOO!" Naruto said excitedly.

"I'm Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Nice to meet you two, my name is Link," said the boy.

"Hey Link, uh where are we?" asked Ichigo.

"In Hyrule. Right outside Ordon village to be exact," Link said, indicating in the direction of the field they just came from. 

Ichigo didn't recognize the name.

"Well we'll be on our way," said Ichigo. He planned on heading over to this Ordon Village to see if someone there might have some information.

As they moved to leave, Link stopped them.

"Ichigo?" Link asked.

"What?" Ichigo said.

"Last night, a girl came by Ordon village,she had short hair,was wearing a black robe and had a sword on the left side of her chest."

"That's Rukia!" Ichigo cried. "Where is she now?"

"At Temla's bar." he said.

"...And where is this bar?" Ichigo asked.

"In Castle Town, the mayor of Ordon left to Zora's domain, and offered to take her there seeing as it was on his way."

"Why'd he take to this place?" asked Ichigo.

"Well she seemed to be running from something." said Link. "We thought maybe there were some robbers after her and we knew she would be safe with Telma."

"So how do we get to this place?" asked Naruto.

"Follow me" said Link, mounting the horse that was by his said. "This is Epona by the way."

And they followed Link to the bar. 


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5**

As Ichigo, Naruto, and Link made their way to Telma's bar, they each told the others a little about themselves.

"You actually expect me to believe you're a ninja?" said Link.

"Of course! And just any ninja, but the future Hokage!" said Naruto.

"What's a 'Hokage'"? asked Link.

"Nothing but the strongest ninja in the village! And the leader as well" said Naruto grinning.

"And you think you have a shot at becoming this Hokage?" asked Link, with obvious doubt in his voice.

"Hey, you don't believe? I'll show exactly what I can do!" said Naruto who was getting angry.

"Will you guys stop fighting?" interrupted Ichigo. "We have to find Rukia! Now how much farther till we get to this bar?" It had been 4 long hours but by this point they were already in Hyrule Market Town.

"Just around that corner and down the steps," said Link. When they got to the bar, Link tied Epona up and they went inside. Without realizing it, they all separated. Ichigo to look for Rukia, Link to check out the latest news of what was happening in Hyrule, and Naruto…to get something to eat.  
15 minutes later they regrouped.

"Any news on that Rukia girl?" asked Naruto.

"No, no one here seems to know who I'm talking about!" said Ichigo, who was very frustrated. _Dammit, where could she be?_, he thought.

"Well I got some news you might find interesting," said Link. "She was definitely here earlier, but she was kidnapped!"

"What? I would think someone would remember that!" said Ichigo._Please by okay Rukia. Please!_

"Well they were all paid to keep quiet. According to Telma, the lady who owns this place, they a bunch of guys came barging in here, and while some of them grabbed Rukia, the others went around paying the other people that were here. Telma was part of the resistance so of course she told me what happened."

"Oh man, this is bad. Every time I get closer to finding her, she gets taken away!" cried Ichigo, slamming his fist against the wall.

"Well, there's more. It seems someone, not one of the guys that Rukia, but some messenger left this note for you." Link handed Ichigo the note. It read:

_Hello there Ichigo Kurosaki. At this point you have discovered that Rukia is no longer at Telma's __bar. You know that she was captured and taken elsewhere. You are also currently traveling with 2 other's by the names of Naruto Uzumaki and Link. The point of this letter is to tell that I can help rescue Rukia. Why would I help you ask? Because this is bigger than just saving some girl, even if she is a Soul Reaper. No, you see, a war is approaching, a war that will stretch across time and space and even to other dimensions. But I will tell you more later. All you need to know for now is that the men who took Rukia work for a man named Onaga, the Dragon King. Onaga is not alone. I'm sure you have already met Dark Link as well. There are others who working with those 2 but you will find out soon enough.  
But right now, your biggest concern is saving Rukia. To do this will need to find others to help you. Go to the lake in Kakiriko Village. There is a portal there. Through that portal you will meet someone else who will join you on your journey_

Sign, L


	6. Chapter 6

When Ichigo, Naruto, and Link reached Kakiriko Village, Link had Ichigo and Naruto wait outside of a store so he could get some supplies.

After a while Naruto asked Ichigo, "Hey, Ichigo, who is this Rukia girl anyway? She your sister?"

"No," said Ichigo, who just wanted Link to hurry up so they could get to the lake already.

"Ah, ok….your girlfriend?"

"No!" exclaimed Ichigo, who had started to blush at the thought. "She's just a friend I have to protect, ok? Nothing more." Naruto, sensing he wasn't going to get any farther with Ichigo gave up after that. Eventually Link came out of the store and they walked the short distance to the lake. There they were meant by a shaman.

"Welcome travelers," she said. She bowed to them all. "I wish we had time for proper introductions but Link has already sent ahead with a note telling me of your quest. She took Epona's reins from Link.

"I shall take care of her while you are away, brave hero."

"Thank you, I am very grateful to you," said Link bowing to her. "Ok guys, let's get going." They made their way to the center of the very shallow lake, where a small waterfall stood.

"This is it," said Ichigo. He noticed he was getting better at sensing the presence of portals. "Stand back." They did so and Ichigo used his bankai once again to open the portal and without looking back, they ran in.

After they entered the portal, they looked around the place, and saw hills with eyes? Blocks,bricks,and weird brown walking vampire-like mushrooms.

"Where the hell are we?" Ichigo asked.

"I dunno" Naruto said. Without warning, a walking mushroom appeared and tried to attack them. Just as they got into their stances, a man jumped on the mushroom with his foot, leaving his foot covered in blood. The man looked at the three and they stared back.

The man had a red cap with a "M" on it, a red shirt with blue overalls, brown shoes and white gloves. His face was round and had a mustache under his nose. "

Hello!" He said. Ichigo, Naruto, and Link gave him a weird stare.

Ichigo then asked him "Uhh hi, umm have you seen a bunch of guys come through carrying a girl that was probably unconscious."

"Yes, I have!" the man said "I was just on my way to rescue the princess from that evil Bowser!".

_Princess? Thought Ichigo._

"We'll join you," said Naruto, before Ichigo could say anything. Link nodded and Ichigo decided to go along as well_. This guy may be mistaking her for some princess_, he thought.

The man stopped "By the-a way, Im-a Mario." Mario said.


	7. Chapter 7

When they finally made it to what Mario was sure was Bowser's castle, they were exhausted. They had already been to 4 other castles, fighting their way through it only to find out at the end by a short guy with a mushroom on his head that "The princess is in another castle." Ichigo would have given up long ago, if it wasn't for the fact that Mario had promised to join them and help him find Rukia if they helped him rescue the princess. Ichigo suspected that Mario was the one that "L" was referring to. He didn't know why, but he trusted this L guy.

"This one is it! I'm sure of it!" said Mario.

"That's what you said the last 4 times!" said Naruto who was clearly frustrated.

"Naruto is right," said Ichigo. "We can't keep wasting our time going to the wrong place. All we're gonna accomplish by doing this is tiring ourselves out."

"No," said Link. "Mario is right, this is definitely it. I can feel it." Ichigo saw the conviction in Link's eyes. Naruto must have saw it as well because he simply nodded.

"So lets a-go!" said Mario.

Within the hour Link, Mario, Ichigo, and Naruto had made it through the castle and they stood outside the throne room facing the door. Mario opened the door while everyone else was on their guard. The moment the door was opened they stormed the room.

Mario marched right up to the throne and said"Bowser! Let the princess go!" The others were about to join Mario but what they saw on the throne shocked them. Mario had described what Bowser had looked like, but they were still just as surprised. The creature that was on the throne was a giant turtle with a green spiked shell. He also had a spiked wristbands and clawed hands. He definitely resembled a dinosaur-dragon-turtle combination.

"Help me Mario!" yelled a voice. They all looked towards the source of the sound and saw, next to the throne, a cage. Inside the cage was a girl in a pink dress, white gloves, blonde hair, and bright blue eyes.

"Don't worry princess. I will save you! After I'm a-Mario!" Boswer simple laughed and jumped off his throne right in front of Mario. Before Mario could react Bowser knocked Mario hard, sending him flying. Naruto jumped and caught him before he could hit the wall. Bowser continued to laugh.

Ichigo and Link, drawing their swords, charged Bowser. Ichigo jumped and attacked Bowser from above, while Link went for his legs. Bowser bent down so that his shell deflected Ichigo's attack. Then, quickly standing straight up, he knocked Ichigo into a nearby wall. At the same time, he shot out fire from his mouth towards Link. Link pulled out his shield and blocked the fire.

Ichigo and Link continued to fight Bowser as Naruto and Mario made their way over to the princess. When they made their way over to the princess, Naruto used his kunai to cut the cage open, freeing the princess. Mario and the princess embraced.

"Oh Mario! Thank you!" said the princess.

"No trouble at all Peach, but I couldn't do it without the help my friends here!" said Mario pointing at Naruto then out Ichigo and Link who were still fighting Bowser. Naruto saw that they were in trouble and went to help them.

"Stay here, Peach. I'm a-going to help my friends," said Mario. Just as Mario turned around to join the fight against Bowser, Peach screamed. Quickly turning around back towards Peach, he was just in time to see a black hole in the air closing. In it's place stood a black creature. It resembled a sort of hedgehog but was around the same height as Mario. It was wearing white sneakers, white gloves, and was all black, with the exception of red streaks throughout it's body.

"Who-who are you?" said Mario.

"I am known...as Shadow," said Shadow. Before Mario could do or say anything else, Shadow raised his hand, his palm facing Mario and said, "Chaos control!" and a wave of energy crashed into Mario, sending him into a wall, knocking him unconscious.

Ichigo, Naruto, and Link, after hearing the scream towards Peach. They saw what the creature did to Mario, but before they could react and help out, Bowser took the disctraction and jumped landing right next to the creature. Another portal opened behind them and Bowser grabbed Peach, throwing her over over her shoulder and he walked into the portal. Shadow followed him but just as he walked into it, he turned and looked at Ichigo.

"Rukia sends her regards," said Shadow, smirking, and disappeared into the portal. Ichigo was suddenly filled with rage and was about to chase after them but then the castle started to rumble. The walls, ceiling, and floor was falling apart.

"Ichigo, c'mon!" said Link. Ichigo turned around saw Link and Naruto standing by the door, signaling to Ichigo to hurry up. He saw that Naruto was carrying the unconscious Mario.

"Ichigo, the portal is already closed we have to go!" Ichigo knew that Link was right and he took one last look at the where the portal was and he joined the others as they escaped Bowser's castle...


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8**

After exiting the portal, Ichigo, Link, Mario, and Naruto landed on what appeared to be a large ship, but before they could further inspect their surroundings, a blast of fire shot toward them. Ichigo's first thought was that it was a ninja but as raised his sword to block the fire, he noticed that the man's uniform was drastically different from the one's he remembered in Naruto's village. However, before the fire ever reached them, a blast of air blew the fire away and the man attacking them off his feet.

A young boy, in an orange and yellow outfit with an arrow tattoo on his head landed in front of them. Two more men appeared bu the boy quickly disposed by knocking them off the side of the ship.

"Who are you guys? You don't look like Fire Nation." said the boy, turning towards them.

"Fire Nation?" asked Naruto. "Wait, like the Land of Fire?"

"No, we're not from this Fire Nation that you're talking about," said Ichigo, stepping forward. "I'm Ichigo and we're looking for a girl named Rukia-"

"And a-Princess Peach!" interrupted Mario.

"Umm well I don't know either of them. But you say you're Fire Nation? Then what are you doing on this ship? Were you captured?"

"It's complicated," said Ichigo. "Basically, we're not from this world. We came here through a portal and we ended up on this ship. We were only here for a few seconds before we were attacked and you saved us."

"Another world? Like the spirit world?" asked the boy, who looked rather confused.

"Yea, like I said, it's complicated."

"Well as long as you're not Fire Nation. Anyway, I have to go, we've taken the ship so the our captain will be able to take you to land."

"Wait, where are you going?" asked Ichigo.

"There's been an attack on the Earth Kingdom capital of Ba Sing Se. I have to go there to help."

"Let us come with you," said Link, speaking for the first time since they arrived in this new world. "It may not look like it, but we're all capable fighters." Ichigo gave Link an odd look, but Link gave him a look back that said that he would explain later.

"Sure, we can use the help. I'm Aang by the way," said the boy, smiling now and indicating for them to follow him. They followed him to the deck of the ship and as they did Link introduced themselves.

"I'm Link, and this is Naruto, Mario, and you've already been introduced to Ichigo," said Link, pointing to each of them in turn.

"Nice to meet all of you," said Aang. When they reached the deck of the ship, everyone except Aang gasped.

"Mama Mia!" exclaimed Mario.

"Holy cow! What _is_ that?" said Naruto. In front of them sat a giant Bison, however it wasn't just the size that was a call for surprised, the bison had six legs as well as the same arrow pattern that Aang had.

"Oh that's Appa," said Aang, petting Appa. "Hop on!" Aang jumped high onto Appa's head where he grabbed hold of the reigns. Aang indicated towards a large saddle on the Bison's back. They all climbed aboard.

"So, does this thing swim or-" started Naruto.

"Yip yip!" said Aang, and the bison, suddenly awake, lurched and jumped into the air over the side of the ship. They all screamed before realizing they were still airborne.

"It can _fly_?" exclaimed Ichigo.

"Yep!" said Aang with a grin. As they flew, Aang told them about himself and they, in turn, told him about each other and of their journey.

"Avatar huh?" said Naruto. "Cool! The ability to control the elements sounds awesome!"

"Air, Water, Fire, and Earth..." said Link, more to himself than to the others.

"Thanks! However, the Fire Nation is in war with the other lands. He's already wiped out the air nomads, I'm the last one. Right now, the Fire Nation is trying to take over the Earth Kingdom."

"Why?" asked Mario.

"The Fire Lord wants to rule the world. It's been like this for a 100 years now," said Aang, with a sad look on his face. Suddenly, his face was full of determination. "But I won't let him do it! I'm going to defeat him and restore balance to the world!"

"Well we're with you!" said Ichigo. The rest of them nodded their heads. "We have to find Rukia and Princess Peach as well. We were told that the person who took her was working with others and this Fire Lord guy sounds just like the person who might be a part of such a group."

"Well then, to Ba Sing Se!" said Aang and onward they flew.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9**

"Mamma Mia! What happened here?" exclaimed Mario as they reached Ba Sing Se. As they flew over the city, looking for a place to land, they saw that most of the city was on fire. Buildings were destroyed, huge cracks and holes in the the ground were everywhere. They saw people fleeing to the wall.

"So much destruction," said Aang, clenching his fist.

"It's just like before," said Naruto.

"What do you mean?" asked Link.

"This is what happened to Konoha when that Dark Link guy and the hollow attacked," replied Ichigo. "They were destroying everything to lure me to them."

"Then that must mean-"started Link

"Exactly," interrupted Ichigo.

"Wait, what are you guys talking about?" asked Aang, perplexed.

"Well, you see-" started Ichigo, but before Ichigo could finish a giant pillar of fire erupted from the center of the city. Without hesitation, Aang grasped tightly onto the reins and said "Appa, Yip Yip!" and the flying bison flew towards the fire at full speed.

Before they even reached the source of the fire, they could hear the sounds of battle. By the time they were over what looked like a palace, they could see that there was a major battle raging on the ground. They saw soldiers wearing two different uniforms fighting. From what Aang had told them, they knew the ones in red were Fire Nation, and so they assumed that the ones in green must have been Earth Kingdom soldiers.

"So, the Earth Kingdom guys are the good guys right?" asked Naruto.

"Yea," said Aang. "And-" before Aang could complete his sentence Naruto had jumped off Appa, landing on the palace. From there he jumped down unto the ground and joined the battle. Aang lead Appa to the ground, and using air to clear the spot of Fire Nation soldiers, landed. Immediately Aang jumped off, followed by Ichigo, Link, and Mario. An Earth Kingdom soldier came running towards Aang.

"Avatar! Thank goodness you have arrived! We're almost at the breaking point. We're at our last point of defense, and Fire Nation does not seem to be weakening! Not to mention some strange boy has jumped into the battle and is using some weird magic to fight them."

"It's ok, that boy is with me. And so are these guys here," said Aang indicating Ichigo and the others. "They're going to help us fight." The man bowed to the gang, and they bowed back. "Who's in charge of the Fire Nation soldiers right now?"

"Commander Zhao is, and..." the soldiers voice trailed off.

"What? What is it?"

"Umm there are unconfirmed reports that the Firelord himself is on his way," said the soldier.

"WHAT?" exclaimed Aang in shock. Ichigo knew that this Firelord must've been powerful from the way Aang had described him when they first met, but his reaction to knowledge that he was coming only deepened Ichigo's worries.

Aang said something else to the soldier, but whatever it was, it was drowned out by the sound of a deafening roar. They all turned to look and saw another pillar, but this time of some sort of red energy, that was giving off an evil vibe. On the ground, at the center of the pillar was Naruto. The energy slowly lessend and surrounded Naruto's body forming something in the shape of a fox, but with 2 tails.

In front of Naruto, a man stood in a weak fighting stance. The man was of the Fire Nation and wore a uniform that stood out, marking him as the leader.

"Zhao," whispered Aang. The color from the man's face had drained and he was deathly pale, a look of pure fear on his place. The man, noticing the looks he was getting from his troops, quickly regained his composure and pushed his fists forward, but before the fire completely left his hand, Naruto had disappeared. Before anyone could react, Naruto was behind Zhao and moving so fast that no one could see punched Zhao into the Palace wall, where he was knocked completely through and came out on the other side. Everyone stood in shock. Naruto looked around and roared once more. Just as he did, a huge fireball engulfed him. Breaking the shock that they were all in, they all looked up and saw a giant airship that resembled a red blimp with the Fire Nation symbol on it.

On the front of the ship, stood a man with Fire Nation clothes, and wore a crown.

Aang swallowed hard.

"That's-"

Without being told, Ichigo, Link, and Mario knew instantly and mouthed at the same time...

"The Firelord."


End file.
